D&D Monster Spotlight: The Beholder

Few creatures strike fear into adventurers quite like the Beholder, a floating orb of nightmares covered in eyes, ego, and enough firepower to disintegrate your hopes and dreams in a single turn.

A Grudge with Gravity... and Everything Else

Born from the fevered imagination of Gary Gygax and Terry Kuntz, the Beholder has been glaring down would-be heroes since 1975. It is a D&D icon, a floating nightmare factory capable of turning well-built adventurers into red paste and regrets in one or two bad rolls. This creature does not just kill you, it makes you question your life choices on the way out.

But what makes the Beholder truly terrifying is not just its spell-like eye beams or utter disregard for things like “walking” or “friendship.” It is paranoia turned up to 11.

Perfection, or Else

Beholders are convinced of their own perfection. In their eyes, every other creature is either a nuisance, a threat, or an outright fraud. Other Beholders are the worst offenders of all. Since no two Beholders look exactly alike, they see each other as horrifically flawed copies that simply must be eradicated.

In short, a Beholder’s greatest enemy is often another Beholder, and they are more than happy to settle that with a disintegration ray to the face.

The Eyes Have It

Each of a Beholder’s ten eyestalks can unleash a different form of magical devastation: charm, fear, telekinesis, petrification, sleep, and the ever-popular “oops, you're dust” disintegration. The large central eye emits an anti-magic cone that shuts down spellcasting and magic items in what feels like a very personal insult to every wizard.

For players, fighting a Beholder is like taking a surprise final exam on strategy, teamwork, and who prepared the spell Fly.
For Dungeon Masters, it is a chance to revel in the chaos and watch players scramble in all directions.

Home is Where the Hover Is

Beholders take lair design very seriously, especially since many of them never leave. Their subterranean hideouts are masterpieces of anti-visitor architecture: floating platforms, tricky angles, cunning traps, and zero stairs. After all, why make it easy for people with legs?

Their lairs give them an environmental advantage that is as literal as it is lethal. Good luck flanking something that can hover, see everything, and attack from any direction.

A True Icon Across Editions

Since its debut in 1975, the Beholder has appeared in every edition of Dungeons & Dragons, starred in novels, and caused entire playthroughs of Baldur’s Gate to end in disintegrated despair. It is one of the most recognizable and feared creatures in tabletop history.

It is more than a monster. It is a mood. And it is the ultimate reminder that sometimes, rolling high is still not enough.